Say: “Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? (Qur’an 18:103)

“Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds! (Qur’an 18:104)

“They are those who deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall not give them any weight. (Qur’an 18:105)

“That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved and took My Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and My Messengers by way of jest and mockery. (Qur’an 18:106)

Re-worded, it is saying the good people who don’t believe in Allah stand to lose the most, because their deeds are not counted. In Islam when you do good, your deeds are multiplied 10 to 100s of times over, meanwhile a sin only counts as one sin. It makes sense that these sorts of people will lose on a lot more than those who are constantly evil. Their deeds are not counted because they did not believe they would one day meet Allah and did not believe that the scriptures are a divine message. If you do not believe in Allah then in most if not every case you will not believe that the scriptures hold any importance whatsoever neither will you believe that you will come back to a God who you think doesn’t exist.

Before you come to conclusions, statements and opinions on this stance, take the example of a plumber. He is called to fix a toilet. He comes to your house and you find that he is the friendliest man you have ever met. He offers to check your bath tub or shower realizes there’s a fault with your sink and arranges to have it done, cleans up your entire bathroom, proceeding to go to extra lengths to keep it from getting dirty and constantly and effectively reassures you that everything is going well and keeping you calm and relaxed about the situation. But he is unable to fix the toilet at the end.

What do you think happens? You’ll complain that this man is useless and he doesn’t have priorities straight. His boss will have him under supervision and begin to send out warnings and threaten unemployment. No one will recommend him and his company will suffer.

Now what do you think happens if he continued to do what he did at the beginning while also fixing the toilet at speed? You’ll think this man is a superhero. His boss will find him a pleasure to have, everyone will recommend him and as a result the company begins to flourish as well as himself. That one success changes everything. After that action is fulfilled, everything else is a bonus. That action is your purpose.

In Islam, Allah has said in the Quran (51:56) that your purpose is to worship Him. This is another topic on its own. However for the time being, know that if your purpose is to worship Him, then anything else you do extra is a bonus and that so long as you do not complete your purpose, your tasks are fruitless. The Prophet has said himself as narrated in Bukhaari that the kalima (statement of belief in Islam) is enough to have you accepted into paradise, though he did not want people to become reliant on it (and with very good reason, one being you can still go to hell and be punished for longer and more severely the greater your sins). Think of the plumber who does nothing else but fix your toilet. He might be downright disgusting in his behavior and fixing of your toilet, but if he does completes his job with the absolute bare minimum required, he’ll be paid for it. Especially if he is good at it, then you may even be willing to put up with it if you cannot find anyone better. He can be reprimanded for his other actions, but he’ll still be paid for completing his task.

In Islam, the moment you complete your purpose, every good deed done in the past will come flooding in as what makes you great. SubhaanAllah (Glory be to Allah), you are forgiven your past sins while your good deeds of the past are counted, therefore removing any despair of your past efforts to do good. The famous Ayat stating that Allah will forgive all sins (39:53) is allegedly in response to some disbelievers who had committed atrocious acts and wanted to know whether they could still be forgiven for them if they accepted Islam.

There is evidence to show that even if you die a disbeliever in Islam while having committed very major sins, though are on a path to seeking for forgiveness and searching for Islam, you will still be rewarded Paradise, meaning there are exceptions. IARLG’s comments: This is most likely referring to the man who killed 100 people and the angels of mercy and punishment were fighting over.

Your Lord knows best what is in your inner-selves. If you are righteous, then, verily, He is Ever Most Forgiving to those who turn unto Him again and again in obedience, and in repentance. (Qur’an 17:25)

So if you ever find yourself wondering why you can’t just be a good person, according to Islam the main answer is to complete your purpose in life. As for why your purpose is your purpose, that’s something for later. Though you may not realize it, this purpose is not only the best thing to do, but also the right thing to do, even according to standards which do not take into account a God. Even according to basic psychological inclinations that we have.

Verily, those who hope not for their meeting with Us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present world, and those who are heedless of Our Ayat; those, their abode will be the Fire, because of what they used to earn. (Qur’an 10:7-8)

Verily, those who believe [in the Oneness of Allah along with the six articles of Faith, i.e. to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, Day of Resurrection, and Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments) – Islamic Monotheism], and do deeds of righteousness, their Lord will guide them through their Faith; under them will flow rivers in the Gardens of delight (Paradise). Their way of request therein will be Subhanaka Allahumma (Glory to You, O Allah!) and Salam (peace, safe from each and every evil) will be their greetings therein (Paradise)! and the close of their request will be: Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil-‘Alamin [All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)]. (Qur’an 10:9-10)